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Booyco
Using VLF technology underground , the Booyco PDS has proved its reliability in ensuring pedestrian safety .
As unstable conditions are the greatest cause of fatalities , predicting , assessing , and minimising this hazard is top of mind in underground safety developments . self-steers along a safe path , on-board scanners , combined with radio network infrastructure , are part of the system .
However , it is the Autopilot element of control that allows the machine to auto tram , dump , and return for operator control of the loading process , while machine speed can be regulated and boundaries at required points established .
The system also has features that reduce hazards in the working area of the machine , for example in the event of personnel entering , or equipment leaving the operations area while the machine is being controlled from the operator station . The system only requires a mine map to be loaded onto the server , and the system is designed to work within the mine profile . There is no need to drive a machine manually to ‘ train ’ the system initially each time routes or road conditions change .
Collision warning Local innovations are also coming fast and furious . The CSIR has developed a pedestrian detection system ( PDS ) that uses a range sensor to determine the distance of machinery to each identified person and tracks each individual to determine if and when a collision is likely to occur , based on a set of algorithms ;
while Frank Schommer , Booyco Electronics engineer and developer , says that the application of very low frequency ( VLF ) technology in the development of underground safety equipment has been an important step towards realising the mining sector ’ s objective of Zero Harm . VLF , says Schommer , is used to generate a magnetic field — based on low-frequency technology — around a vehicle ; essentially an electric ‘ fence ’ that is independent of the material present in the immediate environment .
“ In other words , VLF technology allows this magnetic field to travel through obstacles like rock and water , maintaining the ‘ fence ’ at a constant distance from the vehicle ,” he says . “ This means that the shape of the fence around the vehicle remains exactly the same , whether the vehicle is underground or on surface .”
Owing to their frequency , the waves are not deflected by walls or other elements of the environment ; rather , they penetrate these objects , Schommer says . “ This allows our PDS to create this invisible fence around mining vehicles at a certain pre-set distance , depending on the specific application and the customers ’ requirements .”
The corners and crossings in an underground haulage will not affect the
SEPTEMBER 2018 27